Arm for exhibition lay figures



P. IMANS.

v ARM FOR EXHIBITION LAY FIGURES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 22, I920.

Patented May 18, 19 20.

lNI/ENTOR P/EVRRE lMA/VS 15 mm PIERRE IM,ANS, OF P.-A R;I;S, FRAN'CE.

ARM .ron EXHIBITION LAY rireunns.

nsaonae.

Specification of Letterslatent. i {Patented lvIay 18, 5

Application filed January 22, 1920. Serial no. 353,161,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it' known that I,'Pinn1in*I1\rANs, citizen oi the Republic of France, residing at 10 Rue deCrussol, Paris, in the Republicof F ance, "have invented new and useful Improvements in Arms for Exhibition Lay Figures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved construction of arm havingthe appearance of flesh and adapted for use with lay figures which among otherpurposes are employed in stores for displaying articles ofwearing apparel.

It is well known that arms of the above kind made of wax have the disadvantage of being fragile so that the hands and the fingers are often broken while the lay figure is being handled or dressed. It has already been proposed to substitute for wax a composition embodying gelatin and glycerin, said composition having the advantage of being flexible so that the arms are practically unbreakable. Said arms of flexible material were heretofore made solid and provided with a' central stiffening member of wood or other material. This construction is objectionable in that the arm so constructed is very heavy so that it cannot be .used with layiigures of the usual type, in

which the arm is hooked to a member embedded in the wax shoulder of the lay figure. As soon as the temperature is somewhat high, the wax of the shoulder becomes soft and the arm may be torn off the shoulder by its own weight.

The present invention has for its object to provide an improved construction of arm whereby the above disadvantage is entirely avoided. The arm constructed in accordance with the invention is light and unbreakable and has also the advantage of being cheaper than those constructed by the known methods inasmuch as the amount of plastic material used in its manufacture is considerably reduced.

The invention has for its object an arm comprising a rigid central stiffening mem ber made for instance of wood andwires, a hollow core for instance of cardboard which surrounds the stiffener at a distance and is supported by the same and an outer layer of a flexible composition embodying gelatin, molded on the core.

In the annexed drawing, given by way of example Figure 1 is -a sectional View of an arm constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section along the line 2-2 of'Fig. 1, on a larger scale.

F 1g. 3 is an elevation view of a mold which may be used in preparingthe arm.

L is a corresponding plan view of the As shown inthe drawing, the arm comarovided at its free end with stiffening member is a hollow core which,"

in the example shown, is formed of two parts 9, it surrounding the rods a, b nearly on their whole length. Each part 7, it of the core is formed of one or more cardboard sheets which are glued or otherwise fastened.

together and held by stiffening wires 2' which hold at the same time the wall of the core at the required distance from the central rods forming the inner stifiener. The arm is completed by an outer layer m having a thickness of about one centimeter, of a flexible composition embodying gelatin.

Said composition may for instance be con posed of the following ingredients in the proportions cited below:

Gelatin 30 grams Glycerin 4L0 Distilled water 3O Pulverized oxid ofzinc 50 For giving said composition the required tint, pulverized coloring matters ground in water. are added thereto. The composition is melted in a water bath.

The hollow core with the central stiilener and the composition being prepared as above described, the core is placed in a mold formed 01" several parts, such as that shown in Figs. 8 and 4c which comprises for in stance the parts n, 0, g), Q, r, s. The melted composition is poured into the mold through the opening it, whereby it will adhere to the core and surround the same. The core is held within the mold by the rod 0 which is clamped between the parts of the mold, in its part a.

When the composition has set, the mold is taken apart and the seams left on the arm are taken off by means of a razor or other sharp tool and polished with sand paper. The hand and the parts of the fingers corresponding to the nails are made up with liquid pigments which are found in the trade. After drying, the colors are fixed by means of formol whereby the arm may be washed later on with alcohol without damaging the colors.

Obviously, the invention is not restricted to the details of construction shown or described. In particular, the stifiening member and the core may be constructed of any desired material and the arm may be at tached to the lay figure by any desired The fastening of the arm will however be preferably such that the arm may exactly abut against the shoulder of the lay figure for the purpose of avoiding gaps which would be objectionable in the most usual case of lay figures having uncovered wax shoulders.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An arm for exhibition lay figures comprising in combination a central rigid stifi?- ener, a hollow core of a light weight material secured to said stiiiener and an outer layer of a flexible plastic composition embodying gelatin molded on said core.

2. An arm for exhibition lay figures comprising in combination a central rigid stiffener composed of wooden rods and twisted wires, hollow cores, formed of cardboard and stifiening wires, secured to the said wooden rods and an outer layer of a flexible composition embodying a mixture of gelatin and glycerin, molded on said core.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

PIERRE I'MANS. 

